LAVENDER-LEMON COOKIES, TWO WAYS

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

One cookie dough, two outcomes. Rolled out and cut in circles, or baked in a silicone mold, then covered with chocolate. This approach is similar to a strawberry version I made not too long ago (check it out here).

LAVENDER-LEMON SUGAR COOKIE
(inspired by 100 Cookies, by Sarah Kieffer)

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon culinary lavender
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon lemon extract or paste
2 cups all-purpose flour

for the glaze:
1/3 cup milk (you won’t need the full amount)
1/8 tsp lemon extract
1 + 1/2 cup powdered sugar

to coat the roses:
compound chocolate, white
purple oil-soluble food dye, tiny amount

sprinkles to decorate the cutout cookies (optional)

In the bowl of a food processor, process the granulated sugar, lavender and lemon zest together until the lavender buds are broken down. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the lavender-sugar and salt, and beat again on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined. Remove the dough, form into a circle and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

Roll the cookie dough and cut circles, about 3 inches in diameter. Use a portion of the dough to form small balls and stick in a rose shaped silicone mold. Bake the cookies in a 350F oven, circles until lightly golden at the edges (about 15 minutes), small roses until firm to the touch, it might take a little longer than the cutout cookies.

To finish the little rose cookies: Once the roses are cold, place the mold in the freezer for 10 minutes and then remove the baked cookies to a rack. Wash the mold, dry well. Melt white compound chocolate, divide in two portions. Leave one white, dye the other purple (using very little oil-soluble color). Marble them together, pour into the mold and immediately stick the shaped cookies. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes, un-mold and if needed shave the bottom with a Microplane to tidy the edges.

To finish the rolled out cookies: make a glaze mixing the powdered sugar with milk and lemon extract until the consistency is right, not too thick, not too thin. Add the milk, a little bit at a time to the powdered sugar. Coat the baked, room temperature cookies with the glaze, then add sprinkles to decorate, if so desired. Let it set for a couple of hours.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These cookies are very flavorful, the lavender won’t be too pronounced, just right. In the cookbook, she uses a different type of glaze, that did not work very well for me, and she sprinkled the cookies with lavender, that was a bit much for my taste. Do what you feel agrees with your tastebuds.

It is not very easy to get the chocolate coating to be fully smooth, at least I seem to have some problems with it. Maybe pouring the chocolate while warmer and banging the mold a bit on the countertop could help, but keep in mind you’ll need to work reasonably fast, as you will have several cookies to coat at once. I would not try to make more than eight at a time. Even if not fully smooth, these are delicious and I love the way they turned out…

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20Jun2026

CROQUE MADAME, RICE PAPER VERSION

Posted in Pizzas & Small Dishes by sallybr

When we lived in Paris, having a “croque madame” or a “croque monsieur” was pretty much a weekly event. Thick, crusty bread, with cheese, ham, bechamel sauce, a tomato or fried egg on top. This is a much lighter version and quite fun to make, as rice paper does the job of bread, and I omitted the bechamel sauce. Once I became interested in this method, the Algorithm Gods started flooding me with ways to use (and sometimes abuse) rice paper. I loved this little adventure so much, I might play with the concept again soon.

RICE PAPER CROQUE MADAME
(from The Bewitching Kitchen)

for one serving

2 sheets of rice paper
1 cup water + 1 tablespoon white vinegar
sesame seeds to cover the extension of the rice paper
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 thin slices mozzarella cheese
1 thin slice ham
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil spray

Lay a piece of parchment paper over a baking sheet. Pour sesame seeds covering more or less the dimension of a rice paper round.

Brush both sides of a rice paper sheet with the water-vinegar mixture. Lay on top of the sesame seeds, and repeat the process with a second rice paper, placing it on top of the first. Add a little mustard to the center, brush to form a thin layer. Add the slices of cheese on top, then the ham. You can do a full slice but it is best to cut it into strips and mound them over the cheese, leaving a space at the center. Delicately fold the edges of the rice paper, enclosing the filling, but leaving the center open. Gently crack an egg in the center, season with salt and pepper. Spray some olive oil on top, and either bake at 425F for about 12 minutes, or air-fry for slightly less time.

You can use tomatoes instead of the egg, or keep it simple with ham and egg only.

Bake until crispy and the egg is cooked.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: In many versions around, the rice paper is wet with a beaten egg. I tried that, but I have this odd reaction to the smell of egg wash as it bakes. To me it is very unpleasant, even if the taste is ok in the end. I opted to brush with water/vinegar, which is better than soaking if your goal is to have a crispy outcome. Plus, it is easier to do also. The egg version is a little tricky because there is a tendency of the egg white to spill out of the center, and there is also a risk of overcooking the egg yolk. You’ll need to play with the method a bit and figure out what works best for your oven. Air-fryer is much better than regular oven, by the way.

I absolutely loved these concoctions, and will definitely be making them often for my lunch!

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16Jun2026

THE BEWITCHING KITCHEN TURNS 17!

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Sometimes I cannot quite believe that I’ve been doing this for seventeen years, but what is even more amazing to me, is that I still feel a wonderful thrill every time I hit “publish” on a new post. And yes, I realize I’ve said that before, after all, it’s been seventeen years of cooking and sharing joy. To celebrate the occasion, I baked a cake, but to be completely honest, there were a few issues, so I am not sharing the recipe. It comes from a pretty well-known cookbook. Enough said. Chocolate layer cake, with fudge buttercream and ganache drip. The issue was the buttercream, but I did my best to work around the problem.

Four layers of chocolate cake, filling of fudge buttercream with bits of shortbread cookies, and a drizzle of caramel sauce. After frosting the cake, a dark chocolate ganache was poured on the flat top, allowing it to drip down the sides. A little extra buttercream to make rosettes on top, chocolate sprinkles and gold for good luck.

The cake was donated whole, so I cannot show the inside, but I heard it was very rich and delicious. As to the journey of blogging, mine will definitely keep going. Phil and I are officially retired for almost a full month, and want to expand a bit my horizon on cooking in general, attempting recipes that are a bit more exotic, maybe. Let’s see how it goes. If you’ve been here from the very beginning, thank you for hanging around for so long. If you are new to my little virtual spot, I hope you’ll find plenty of things to read about and maybe make in your own kitchen. Make it bewitching. And let’s step into the 18th year of food blogging, shall we?

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13Jun2026

SMASHED CHICKEN TORTILLA-PIZZA

Posted in Pizzas & Small Dishes, Poultry by sallybr

Another recipe that has my name written all over, I was inspired by many versions that kept popping on my feed online, and made my own. I know, the mix of ground chicken, tortilla and pizza sounds crazy, but it was crazy delicious! You could omit the chicken and use sautéed mushrooms (make sure they are sautéed well to evaporate all their water content), for a vegetarian version which will also be considerably lighter.

SMASHED CHICKEN TORTILLA-PIZZA
(inspired by many sources)

2 flour tortillas, 6-in diameteer
2/3 cup ground chicken
salt, pepper and smoked paprika to taste
1/2 cup tomato sauce of your choice
shredded Mozzarella, amount to taste

Heat oven to 425F. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Lay two tortillas side by side, cover with 1/3 cup ground chicken, season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.

Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven, add tomato sauce and cheese on top, continue baking for 10 more minutes.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This is not the place to use low-carb variations or corn tortillas, they won’t stand well to the high heat treatment with all the toppings. One tortilla was plenty for my lunch, and the second one was still ok warmed in the oven, straight from the fridge. They are better, however, on the day they are made, a few minutes out of the hot oven. If you go light on the tomato sauce, you can eat it like a taco, folding it in half and biting into it. I recommend you not to do that in mixed company, but as I like to say, your kitchen, your rules! It is deliciously messy…

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9Jun2026

LEMON DOT CAKES

Posted in Cake, Desserts, Desserts, Sweets by sallybr

Have you heard of these? It all started at a bakery in Roslyn, New York, called -quite appropriately – The Dotcakes. They sell them in many different formats, including the popular cupcake, The whole idea behind them is a soft cake inserted in a paper or glass cup, filled to the brim with buttercream, and topped with nonpareils. Simple and effective. Apparently dot cakes are going viral on TikTok, I would not know because I never had the patience for the platform. But Susan, from The View from Great Island, recently made those and I jumped on that project shortly after reading her post. Well, first I had to visit The Super Evil Empire to get me some paper cups. THEN I jumped on it.

LEMON DOT CAKES
(from The View from Great Island)

15 ounce lemon cake mix, prepared according to box directions.
1 cup salted butter, at room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar
8 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
nonpareil sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 10×15 jelly roll pan.

Prepare the cake mix according to its directions and spread into your prepared pan. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until it springs back when lightly touched in the center. A toothpick will come out without wet batter on it. Set aside to cool.

To make the frosting beat the softened butter until fluffy in a large bowl. Slowly add the sugar, a cup at a time, along with the lemon juice and vanilla. Beat until smooth and silky.

When the cake has cooled use your cookie cutter (in the same size as your cake cups) to cut out rounds of cake. Place a round of cake into each cup. Top with the frosting, and bring it right to the top. Smooth it out so that it is completely flat.

Place your sprinkles in a bowl and dip each cup headfirst down into the sprinkles so that they cover the whole surface.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Please do not be upset about the use of a box cake. This is a simple, humble cake that just needs to be moist and flavorful. A box cake delivers that without issues. You can of course make the cake component from scratch. But sometimes simplicity wins in my kitchen. The little cups come with a lid that is perfect to donate these babies, otherwise the nonpareils could make it a bit messy, some always seem to fall off.

I donated the whole batch but I heard they turned out delicious. Each one was donated with a little spoon attached to the lid, to make it easier for the volunteers working that meal.

If you have a party coming up, particularly with kids, consider baking a batch of these dot cakes, they will be a huge hit…
Many thanks to Susan for the inspiration!

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